The Forbidden One
by scarletdestiny
Summary: The character of Luke will be slightly different in this story than the books, although I hope that will not keep you from reading. Set before most of the actions in the books, this is how I dreamed Luke's past actually went. Hidden away from the gods in an effort to keep them from destroying Zeus' bane, Luke's story began long before the setting of Percy Jackson.


**Alright, so this is just an idea I've had for quite some time and I'm finally putting it down on paper. I promise, it will get much more interesting than the prologue, so please just stick with me as I decide how to best begin. **

**As evidenced by the summery, this is a very creative twist on Luke's story and I apologize now if you do not agree with how I portray some characters. I will do my best to keep most of them as close to the books as possible but I make no promises. **

**Also, I clearly do not own any of the characters from Percy Jackson, that right goes to Rick. However, I do own the many OCs that I created for the purpose of telling this story. **

**Enjoy!**

The first time I died, it honestly was not that huge of a deal. All that mattered was that I was dying in an honorable way after saving yet another sadly deserted demigod who just needed help and was no doubt terrified that humans and gods alike were acting like the only good thing in the world would be watching children burn: sadly, sometimes quite literally.

It was a highly chaotic time for everyone, but, knowing the consequences of their actions would be horrendous if modern people found out about the terrible things that used to happen to those among them only wishing to help, the gods tended to keep those ancient times silent and pretended they never happened.

"Witch hunts" is what the mortals called this slaying of any slightly mortal being with quite extraordinary powers of any sort. It didn't matter to anyone whether you could grow plants right out of the ground or build things never thought of, or even knit together a few old bones and make them walk around and block people's paths just because you were bored and it was humorous to petrify unsuspecting morons. That's all we were to them, just another animal to be eliminated from their world, since we were clearly not a part of that wondrous community.

Mere speculation was given to try and decipher why the gods would order and carry out the deaths of their children. What then was the point in having them in the first place if you were simply planning on murdering them soon after? Truthfully though, the deaths didn't begin until there were already at least fifty unnatural children running around in the mortal world, believing there was nothing different about them except for their strong resolve to always help those in dire need.

That resolve changed quickly once they became aware of the purpose behind the gruesome murders. Why would you desire to save those determined to rid their world of your filthiness? Now, orders couldn't just be given from the gods that everyone would obey with absolutely zero questions asked, so there had to be reasons for why ordinary people would consent to killing children. Sadly, it was a brilliant plan.

The murders began with mentally unstable mortals running around yelling that we were blights on this planet. Of course, no one believed them at first, but their lack of belief did not matter for the seeds of doubt had already been planted. After a short time, some citizens began to wonder if those crazed men might actually be onto something. Key members of city states began searching us out and questioning us on our 'powers'. When some refused to answer, tensions rose between the two groups. The mortals were afraid, yes, but not nearly as afraid as all of us. We had not asked to made abnormally.

Soon, riots began in the towns; people cried out for our blood to be spilt on alters so as to appease the gods. We tried to tell them that it was not our fault that their crops had refused to grow, but their children were dying of starvation and they no longer cared about what might be moral. Nighttime was the most dangerous. Even if there was a hint of suspicion surrounding you, you were roughly pulled out of your bed in the middle of the night and dragged to the center of the town. There, if there was the smallest indication that you were different, then there was no question whether or not you would be executed immediately. The only question left was how you were to spend your last few moments.

Only if you were lucky enough to have your head chopped off did you die quickly. Most often, slowly being burned at the stake was the desired method of death.

Those that happened to escape from their towns and ran into the forest were pursued relentlessly by mortals and gods alike. If you were powerful enough to warrant death by a god, well, as soon as mortals spotted you, one would appear and strike you down faster than you could blink.

I never had to worry about being struck down, not that I was not powerful, but because there was someone looking out for a few of us. He would have saved us all if he could have, but there was only so much one kid could do against angry hordes of mortals and an army of gods, especially since this murdering spree only happened due to his being born.

To have the literal fate of the world shoved into your mind at such a young age, it was no wonder he was confused. Before I met him, before I was even born, well, I had heard the forbidden stories of how a few of the gods believed their family members were becoming too powerful and conceited and they decided to do something about it. Of course, no one expected that problem to already be taken care of.

Remember the whole thing when Athena was born from Zeus that one day Athena's mother would have another child that would destroy Olympus? Yeah, well, that kid's pretty popular among my kind of people. After all, he's our leader.

Darkness tugged at the edge of my vision, threatening to pull me into the void that I had run from for so long. "No one is meant to live forever," even hearing his voice whispering in my head was no comfort as I stared down at the wilting form of a seven year old, black-haired, blue eyed child wrapped protectively in my arms. Saving the world had failed. Everything that we had worked so long and hard to achieve was crashing down in one swift moment.

It was all my fault.

Good intentions based on loyalty and a thirst for justice had been the excuse I had drilled into my head time and time again. But now, as the darkness fought for the right to at last destroy me, I knew I had failed in everything I had ever attempted. I had believed we could cure the poison in the world so I had connected my life to the one person I knew could bring justice.

But he was dying.

Weakly, I forced my tired hand up to the boy's forehead and gently moved the sticky black hair out of his eyes. If I had been in the right mind, I would have cleaned the blood off of his face by now and I would have made certain that Rieanne was taking good care of him while he slept in an attempt to fight for his life.

_So much fighting…Why won't the lie down and die? _Throughout my entire life, I had forced myself to remain calm and collected, not easily angered and not allowing petty threats or feeble ideas such as weakness and emotions define me. I was strong. No, I was more than strong, I was the best. The best that had ever been born and I had fought most days of my life because they refused to let me live and bring down their tyranny.

Time and time again I had to be reminded who I was beneath the cold exterior of a murderer who enjoys the kill. It was far too easy to become caught up in the thrill of the chase and the joy at driving an ax through an enemy's skull and watching as the blood poured from their once arrogant features.

But that was not who I truly was. No, that man was what I had been forced to become.

"…we're not done yet…" The soft, raspy voice shoved the darkness from me in a sudden evoked desperation to live. I could swear there were outraged screams as a translucent gold light forced the darkness back. "…never giving up." Determination filled me again and I struggled to my feet before bending down and scooping up the boy.

"Don't worry," I whispered in his ear as I began my long trek back to the hidden base I thought I'd never see again, "we'll show them all why they shouldn't mess with us."

**As I stated earlier, the story will get better so please bear with me. Also, the next chapter should be longer, I'll try to make it longer anyway. I hope you do not feel as if you wasted your time reading my rambling. If you could kindly leave a review so I know what people's reactions are, that would be greatly appreciated. **


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